It would be wrong to dismiss this as an "ethnic number". Although the focus is on a remote and downtrodden Maori community and features an all Maori cast, this has a universal appeal.

In its portrait of a young girl's spirited attempt to win over her unbending traditional grandfather chief it touches on themes of tradition versus change, age versus youth, pragmatism versus spirituality. Yet at the same time it stands up as a story simply told, with a charismatic child star at the fore and atmospheric backdrop that features vivid seascapes and whales.

It opens with tragedy. "There was no gladness when I was born," says the protagonist Pai (Keisha Castle-Hughes) in voice-over. Her mother and twin brother, the next in line to be chief, die in childbirth while Pai lives. Her grieving father flees, and, her severe grandfather, Koro (Rawiri Paratene), never really forgives the young girl.

When it becomes clear that there will be no male successor to the chiefdom, Koro starts schooling the boys of the village in traditional warrior skills in the belief that he will find "the one" who will get the ailing community back on its feet. Pai, who shares her grandfather's love of Mauri mythology and culture, wants to join in but the old patriarch is unbending in his belief that "the old ways" are not for girls. Pai, finding unexpected support from other members of the community, and urged on by the call of whales, is undeterred.

To screenwriter/director Niki Caro's credit she manages to weave together the various themes into a more sophisticated whole than the understated tone and simplicity of the mythic-like narrative implies, creating an emotional, often humourous and magical ride. Her deft handling of Pai's communion with whales, and Keisha Castle-Hughes's outstanding performance, underpins the film with its mystical tone, seducing you into seeing differently.

If anything it would have been interesting to see Caro go deeper in her depiction of Maori culture and the mystical connections between the girl and the giants of the deep. But then the pitch here is still mainstream, as Whale Rider's success on the festival circuit has already proved. It has won numerous awards including the audience award at Toronto and Sundance festivals.